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Graham, Lieberman and Kerry, for now, are still privately meeting with members to gauge what each could support and what could become a deal-breaker.

A great unknown is what the Senate might propose to replace the House’s cap-and-trade program, which has been vilified as a “cap-and-tax” system by critics and deemed a nonstarter by Graham.

But putting a price tag on carbon, many believe, is still essential to reform and spurring the kind of free-market, money-making opportunities that would unleash a burst of new investments and inventions that could be sold at home and abroad.

“What business leaders are saying is, if we don’t give them that certainty here, they are not going to build their new facilities here. They are going to build them somewhere else,” said Browner. “That’s just a pragmatic business decision. They are going to build where demand is.”

The White House is monitoring the Senate talks closely. In late January, Graham, Lieberman and Kerry met with chief of staff Rahm Emanuel to assess their progress, and Browner and other White House officials are providing them technical advice.

The Senate has tentatively set aside time for a debate later this spring, but the talks have been slowed by negotiations among Democrats about how to move the bill forward and how many committees could be involved.

Such delays eventually will turn the calendar into the greatest hurdle for the effort.

In any midterm election year, most legislative business is pretty much set aside after the August recess. Given the widespread unrest among voters, the window for action could be even smaller this year as lawmakers insist on more time back in their districts and states.

But with health care reform put on the back burner, the notion of running without a major accomplishment could spook some lawmakers enough to engage in the energy debate, which typically is driven by regional interests rather than party identification.

In addition, the shift in emphasis in the debate to job creation — an issue that better fits the voters’ top priorities — could make an energy and climate bill more appealing.

White House officials point to job expansions in the clean energy industry spurred by last year’s stimulus bill as a rare bright spot in the still sluggish economy.

The American Wind Energy Association recently issued an annual report that credited the stimulus bill with fueling record growth despite the recession.

“The wind manufacturing sector has the potential to employ many more Americans in green jobs, but without a renewable electricity standard to provide a long-term market, the sector will be slow to grow,” it said.

Other business leaders also argue that before they can and will sink billions into new plants and technologies, they first must be assured that there will be enough domestic demand to justify such expenditures.

That helps explain why the business community has decided to become more engaged in the energy and climate debate.

“We are there to say we are concerned about jobs,” said Crane. “We are ready to invest billions of dollars, but we have to follow the plan laid out in Washington.”

Readers' Comments (239)

Climate change legislation is not a centrist thing. It is a total fraud being used as an excust to roll the taxpayrs. And sure, there are businesses, such as GE, who are supporting the legislation. They support it because they expect to make a lot of money off it, not because it makes any sense or because it's good for the country. Environmentalists are in it for the same reason - they want government grants to do studies that tell us that we should give them more money for more grants.

But it's all starting to unravel. It's getting more and more difficult to keep the lid on the man-made global warming fraud. I'm sure there's going to be a big government push to get legislation in place before the general public realizes what's going on. the taxpaers owe a huge debt of gratitude to the whistle-blower who released those memos from the CRU last November.

"Any capitalist with a pulse knows. . ." Sorry, but once you get the government involved to the extent planned it ceases to be capitalism. Those so-called capitalist who want this "climate-change" legislation can move forward without the government intervention - nothing is stopping them. And as far as the entire climate change debacle goes, which used to be called global warming until their frauds were exposed to the world, I'll just point out 12 years of stable to cooling temperatures, record snow falls, cooling oceans, missing or never existing raw scientific data, experts walking back claims about glaciers melting, experts walking back temperature data, experts using fewer temperature collection devices and usng the ones in warmer climates, evidence coming out now of no carbon based warming in the US, scientists using fraud to hide the mideveal warming period on their hocky stick graph, and even more fraud than I can list here. One snow storm disproves nothing, but increasingly cooler temp's over 12 years makes it darn hard to believe scientists who use computer models that fail to account for two-thirds of the things that affect climate and have failed to predict anything accurately over the past 20 years.

Defying conventional wisdom that a hardened partisan divide and looming midterm elections will prevent the type of compromises necessary for big reforms, business leaders and environmentalists are redoubling their efforts to advance an energy and climate bill in the Senate.

The public does not want a climate change bill we want an energy bill.

TeamPOLITICO: Feb. 8, 2010 - 4:36 AM EST

“Any capitalist with a pulse knows China is moving forward,” said Tad Segal, a spokesman for U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a coalition of business and environmental groups that favor reform. “We can solve a crisis at the same time we grow jobs.”

Of course they are building a coal plant a week. Or was that a lie fed to the public as well? I guess using the China syndrome and spin on what is really happening there has become a matter of political expediency?

TeamPOLITICO: Feb. 8, 2010 - 4:36 AM EST

A great unknown is what the Senate might propose to replace the House’s cap-and-trade program, which has been vilified as a “cap-and-tax” system by critics and deemed a nonstarter by Graham.

If you think cap and trade will be replaced think again. There is way too much money involved to replace or eleminate it all together. Gore's carbon trading markets in Chicago will not go away. Look for Markey and Boxer to proclaim their objections and staunchly defend Cap and Trade as well as the fraudulent science of Global Warming.

FoxFan: Feb. 8, 2010 - 6:33 AM EST

But putting a price tag on carbon, many believe, is still essential to reform and spurring the kind of free-market, money-making opportunities that would unleash a burst of new investments and inventions that could be sold at home and abroad.

I apologize in advance Fox Fan the quote is from the article. Not sure how you got the onus of the quote. Just as I thought save the Carbon Trading market that will surely be the next Bernie Madoff scandal of untold proportions.

TeamPOLITICO: Feb. 8, 2010 - 4:36 AM EST

“What business leaders are saying is, if we don’t give them that certainty here, they are not going to build their new facilities here. They are going to build them somewhere else,” said Browner. “That’s just a pragmatic business decision. They are going to build where demand is.”

Really? Just where are they going to build them? Last I checked they are building coal plants in China and Europe is all up in arms about the recent Global Warming hoax but our mainstream media and our congressional representatives are still pushing their agenda and ignoring what everyone else already knows.

TeamPOLITICO: Feb. 8, 2010 - 4:36 AM EST

In addition, the shift in emphasis in the debate to job creation — an issue that better fits the voters’ top priorities — could make an energy and climate bill more appealing.

I see it coming now another health care reform fiasco because our house and senate are not paying attention to the people.

TeamPOLITICO: Feb. 8, 2010 - 4:36 AM EST

“We are there to say we are concerned about jobs,” said Crane. “We are ready to invest billions of dollars, but we have to follow the plan laid out in Washington.”

Wrong again they want the tax payer to invest billions while they reap the profits. That is what this bill is all about.

I imagine the folks in Washington D.C. are not as worried about global warming as how to cope with almost 50 inches of snow that's fallen on them since just before Christmas. While weather is NOT climate, we know, it sure chills the fervor on this topic. Wasn't it RFK, Jr., who wrote over a year ago about how much he missed snow in winter in Virginia? And that, because of global warming, the kids in Virginia would never see snow as he did as a child? Sorry, Junior. Did you buy a shovel yet? Not for the snow - for the liberal BS we have been bombarded with since Obama took office.

Only the ill-educated can say some of the above - Global Warming NEVER MEANT all states would be warmer - but rather-

The North and South Poles Have Grown so Warm That "The Polar Ice Caps (Glacers) Are Melting Fast Enough To Affect Climate ... IE- The Oceans Rise, Places that Have An Average Winter Temperature of 45 will be at 28 with more snow and places with an average of 28 will see the 45... Yes, a reversal of Climates (or) Odd Weather For That Region

Only the ill-educated can say some of the above - Global Warming NEVER MEANT all states would be warmer - but rather-

The North and South Poles Have Grown so Warm That "The Polar Ice Caps (Glacers) Are Melting Fast Enough To Affect Climate ... IE- The Oceans Rise, Places that Have An Average Winter Temperature of 45 will be at 28 with more snow and places with an average of 28 will see the 45... Yes, a reversal of Climates (or) Odd Weather For That Region

"Black Orchids No Longer Grow On North Pole Snow"

Blah blah blah. This is the classic AGW dodge, which basically claims that any change reflects AGW. It is a substitute for rational thought. Ever since Climategate we have seen an increasing volume of revelations of sloppy science and unfounded claims on behalf of AGW. It's hard to argue that investments based on falsehoods would be wise.

OMG are they insane? There is no substantiating scientific proof of global warming. Apparently, these dolts cannot read. They haven't read the health care debacle. They didn't read the stimulus bill. So maybe they really CAN'T read. You know, all these battles for sanity and rational thought are becoming more than tedious - it's becoming exhausting. We must realize who the enemy is and do away with them.

OMG are they insane? There is no substantiating scientific proof of global warming. Apparently, these dolts cannot read. They haven't read the health care debacle. They didn't read the stimulus bill. So maybe they really CAN'T read. You know, all these battles for sanity and rational thought are becoming more than tedious - it's becoming exhausting. We must realize who the enemy is and do away with them.

Vote out the EPA congress. Already their is a lawsuit to force the EPA to prove to the court EXACTLY what science they based their determination that carbon is a harmfull chemical. Which is what they have to do in order to be able to move forward on regulation.

Good luck with that guys because we all know the science is cooked, a total fraud, and a lie!

Enough already with the climate bill. It is a proven farce, brought about by jerks like Al Gore and companies like GE that will benefit greatly, by lining their pockets with millions upon millions of dollars, through unnecessary government contracts and by scientists, who, with their false data, will also profit immensely . The Earth has gone through climate cycles every twenty to thirty years, since its inception.

Countries like China, India and Brazil will emerge as economic kingpins as none of those countries will sign on to anything remotely similiar. They will prosper while we will sink due to left wing enviromental extremeists, who have a pretty tight grip on the Democrats and this administration.

How about focusing on a jobs and energy bill? Nuclear energy and off shore drilling is very safe and will create ten of thousands of jobs.

The American people want nothing to do with this so-called downd cap and tax bill and any iteration put forward by these three liberals is a sure sign that with all that has happened with healthcare etc. over this past year, these guys continue to live in a world where the folks just get in line with their climate plans.

Hellooooo, listen you guys, you have NO chance of ever again pushing bills supported by the likes of GE and others who want your assurances that they can make huge amounts of profit by enacting bills that will enrich them and cost the American taxpayers.

Only one of the three senators here has any integrity whatsoever and I'm surprised that he (Joe Lieberman) is involved in this except that he has a vested interest in seeing the democrats pass something.

What our friends on the right fall to realize is that cap and trade isn't stealth socialism, it's a Trojan Horse for a nuclear renaissance. Nuclear power is the source for carbon free energy at the scale needed to power our great country. Obama's appointment of Chu and TRIPLING the federal money available for nuclear plants are a good indication of where our policy is headed. We can have power too cheap to meter and tell the Saudi's where to go and what they can do to themselves when they get there... if the Republicans would stop obstructing our future.

If we REALLY want to combat global warming, then we should work on increasing the number pirates. That's the real cause of global warming. The debate is over, the correlation between the decline in pirates and the raise of global temperatures is solid science.